


Square T3: Resolving Dissonance

by dracusfyre



Series: Operant Conditioning [4]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Dark!Tony Stark, M/M, President Tony Stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-06-04 20:10:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15154742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dracusfyre/pseuds/dracusfyre
Summary: President Stark decides its time to reconcile with Captain America.  For Square T3: Slavefic





	Square T3: Resolving Dissonance

            The base burned for a long time, and they watched for every minute of it to make sure no one and nothing crawled out of the rubble.  "We have to desensitize you to the triggers," Tony said eventually.  "The only thing I can think of is that somehow, someone got ahold of the words while we were in Afghanistan."  There had been cameras throughout the cave system, watching their every move even if the watchers hadn't always understood what they were seeing.  Tony thought he had destroyed the recordings along with the base, but it was possible that the videos had been stored off site.  "The only way you can be safe is if they don't work anymore."

            James felt an even deeper stab of fear than when he'd woken up chained.  His fingers tightened on Tony's. "I don't want to," he rasped. He'd always thought of the words as a bright golden chain binding him to his captain; even though tonight someone had used that chain to drag him down rather than lift him up, the idea of severing the chain altogether was terrifying.

            "I know," his captain said soothingly. "I don't really want to either, but it's a vulnerability and I won't risk this happening to you again.  I said I would fix this, and it's the only way."  He ran his fingers through James' hair and scratched his scalp lightly until James relaxed again. "We'll take our time.  Then, when you're ready, we're going to track down Rogers and have a little talk."

***

            "God, he's so predictable," Tony said with a satisfied smile as JARVIS reported that a stolen Quinjet had landed a hundred meters away.   Rogers himself was all but obscured by the whirling wind and snow as he left the jet, but the infrared scanners showed him with a rifle at the ready and a shield on his back approached the abandoned Hydra base. It had taken almost a year of careful planning and misinformation, but the news that there were five other Winter Soldiers sleeping the decades away in Siberia had finally made its way to Rogers.  Then, deliberately leaked intel that Tony was also looking for the Winter Soldiers had Steve rushing across the world to investigate.  "It's going to take him about twenty minutes to find his way down here.  Are you ready? " Tony asked.  "Remember, incapacitate, don't terminate."

            "Mission parameters confirmed," James said as he rechecked his weapons.  Behind them, five cryo tubes were dark and still, the Soldiers inside them long dead.  Steve must still not know Tony very well if he'd believed that Tony would let a weapon like the Winter Soldiers exist outside of his control. 

            Before long, there was a grinding noise and the groan of distressed metal as Steve pried open the heavy doors to the repurposed missile silo. "Stark," Steve said flatly, hands going to his rifle.  "I should have known."

            "Yeah, you should have," Tony agreed.  He hooked a finger into James' bulletproof vest and pulled him in for a quick kiss.  "Kick his ass, dear," he said, smiling widely as James stalked forward. 

           To Steve's credit, James had to break his shield arm, put a bullet in his knee, and all but break his face before the fight was over.  James' metal arm was going to need some maintenance, but soon enough he was propping Steve up in front of Tony with one hand fisted in the back of his uniform and the other one wrenching his arm behind his back, the slightest movement threatening to pull it out of socket. 

           “You know," Tony said conversationally as he paced in front of Steve, “when I let you go, I honestly hoped that you would take the hint and go have a normal life. But I didn't really think that was going to happen.  Then, when you started working against me, I found myself willing to let you do what you wanted. It was entertaining. Kept things fresh. Then you went a little too far and got mixed up with the wrong people, and James got captured.” Tony paused at that, jaw tight as he controlled himself, just the memory of it making his heart pound with rage. “I'm afraid to say that I might have lost my temper.”

            “I heard." Steve spat out some blood and tried to focus on Tony with the one eye that wasn't swollen shut.  "Twenty-seven people dead, that’s a hell of a temper.”

            “Given what they were doing to James, they are fortunate that I killed them swiftly,” Tony said, voice low and vicious. He reached over and drew one of James' knives and pressed the tip against Steve’s carotid, hard enough to hurt but not break the skin.  "Did you know what they were going to do when you left him there, Rogers?  Did you give them the trigger words?"

            "Trigger words?" Steve's eye narrowed and he tried to lunge at Tony, ignoring the knife at his throat.  James wrenched Steve's shoulder higher, almost dislocating it, and Steve stilled with a flinch.  "Is that how you're controlling him?" he rasped.  "Through trigger words, like a dog?"

            Tony sighed.  "Look, I know you'd like to think that there is some set of magic words you could say that will bring back the man you knew, but I'm afraid it doesn't work like that."  Tony pressed the knife harder against the pulsing artery in Steve's neck, watching the tip dimple the skin until a drop of red appeared.  “You know, the only thing that keeps me from killing you is that Captain America still holds some weight in this country.  Maybe it's the nostalgia for simpler days, I don't know.  The point is, you can still be useful, so I think you and I are going to have a reconciliation.” 

            “That will never happen,” Steve said, leaning into the sharp metal until the drop of blood turned into several.  “You’ll have to kill me.”

            “Hardly,” Tony said with a smile that made Steve’s skin crawl. He pulled the knife away and tapped Steve’s lips with it before tucking it back into the sheath at James' waist.  "I'm sure you already know this, but I am getting close to my term limit and I won't allow a successor to undo all my hard work.  President Rogers doesn't sound as good as President Stark, but I don't think you'll have a problem getting elected, not with me by your side every step of the way."  He slid his sleeve up to reveal the watch on his wrist, a softly glowing yellow gemstone mounted in the center of the face.

            Steve's bravado seemed to falter when he realized Tony's plan.  “You keep the mind gem in your watch, Tony?” Steve said scornfully. “Seems careless. People lose their watches all the time.”

            “Oh, have you been looking for it?” Tony said with fake surprise.  He turned over his arm to show Steve that the band was an unbroken piece of metal, no space for a clasp. “You’d have to take my hand off at the wrist if you wanted to steal it.”

            “I'll remember that.”

            “I'm sure you will, for what good it will do you. And if you manage to get that far you'll deserve to have it.” Tony twisted the dial on the face of the watch and felt it grow warm against his wrist. “You got him?” He asked James.  

            “Yes,” James said, and the hands holding Steve still tightened as if he could tell that Steve was about to struggle, much good that had done so far.

            As the mind gem stirred, Tony reached out and put his palm over Steve’s chest, feeling how fast Steve’s heart was racing despite the bored look on his face.  Tony focused his will and pushed gently out with the power he could feel gathering; he’d learned the hard way that using too much would leave a mindless husk, a blank slate that was all but useless.  He smiled with satisfaction as Steve’s eyes went black and then cleared to a crystal blue.  Steve relaxed in James’ grip, muscles no longer tense, and at Tony’s nod James released him and took a step back.

            “Come on, get up,” Tony urged, and Steve obeyed, listing to one side because of his shot-out knee. “What do you think, James?  Honestly, I don’t think the eye color is much different than before.  Mind control looks really good on him.”

            James tilted his head, studying him critically.  “There’s less green in his eyes,” he commented after a moment.

            “True.” Tony clapped his hands together and gestured for the door.  “Alright, let’s go.  We’ve got a press release to prepare for.”

***

            Two weeks later, Steve stood in front of the podium in the White House briefing room, wearing the full Captain America regalia, and prepared to give his speech.  Cameras flashed and the room buzzed with hushed voices, the sheer number of people in the room making the air warm and stale.  Captain Rogers had long been a vocal opponent of President Stark, almost from the first day that Tony Stark had taken over the role after exposing Hydra’s plot to take over the world.  That he was now standing next to the President, looking solemn as he described how months of secret talks had led to a compromise between them, was a moment for the history books and everyone in the room knew it.  

            When the floor was opened for questions, one woman went practically airborne trying to be the first to talk.  "Captain Rogers, what are your plans for the future?"

            Steve gave her a self-deprecating smile.  "My discussions with President Stark have made me realize that we need a new Captain America, one who understands the America of today, not the one of seventy years ago.  These days, America doesn't need a warrior to protect her, because today's threat is not to America's borders, its to her ideals. So I will be passing on the shield to the next generation and I'll try to find some other way to serve my country."

            "Some other way to serve?" The journalist from the New York Times repeated in surprise. "Since President Stark cannot run for another term, does that mean that you are considering taking his place?"

            "Well, it would be an honor if I was chosen to succeed Tony in the White House," Steve said modestly, flashing a smile at Tony.  "But that's really up to the citizens of America, isn't it?" 

            


End file.
